


Mea Maxima Culpa

by SankaraSBJOH



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 12:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19019608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SankaraSBJOH/pseuds/SankaraSBJOH
Summary: In the near future Stannis Baratheon is on the brink of uniting Westeros in the name of the Catholic Church and his new ideology of Stannism, is peace on the horizon or is war just a constant of humanity.





	1. Septembris XIV post conquestum CCCXIV

Justin could see the sense of pride on his own face when he looked at himself in the mirror, he was dressed in his full military uniform, a clean olive coloured outfit with red trimmings and the yellow and black arms of House Baratheon with the acronym W.P.L.A on the crest, Justin seen very little combat, he was conscripted into the Westerosi Peoples’ Liberation Army when he turned ten and six back in ’09, but the reactionary Tyrell-Lannister army called for an armistice shortly after he made it to the front. Peace has held for five years now however no treaty has been signed, everybody in Stannisgrad says it would be ridiculous for conflict to resume, the once agriculturally rich Tyrell lands of the Mander have been destroyed by the war, famine is still widespread throughout the Reach and the Westerlands, if anything the Stannisist forces should push forward with a renewed offensive and unite Westeros sooner rather than later.  
Once Justin steps out of his small Flea bottom home he feels the intense humidity of the Stannisgrad summer, something that wouldn’t usually bother him but since he has to walk the whole way to the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin on top of Visenya’s hill in his uniform, however it’s all worth it, King Stannis has asked him to become the Godfather to his new born son , Justin has never met the King he’s just an orphan turned baker’s apprentice who has his own house through the Committee for Veterans’ Affairs , the only reason Justin is becoming the Godfather to the King’s firstborn son is because of a policy Stannis started when his second daughter was born about ten years ago that the Godparents would be random peasants of the realm in order to show his faith in the Westerosi people.  
Once Justin reached the top of Visenya’s hill he was relieved that his uniform wasn’t that badly drenched in sweat, a miracle, he thought, Justin was always in awe of the Basilica of The Blessed Virgin but this would be the first time he would set foot in it, formerly known as the Great Sept of Baelor, it was converted in to a Roman Catholic Basilica following the liberation of Stannisgrad in ’01, it’s named in honour of the apparition Stannis received at the battle of Winterfell where the Virgin Mary appeared to him and inspired him to victory against the Boltons from that day onwards Stannis abandoned R’hllor and vowed that Westeros would become loyal to the Holy Roman Catholic Church, at the Altar Justin could see his Holiness Pope Leo, the would be Godmother (a prostitute from Gulltown) and Queen Selyse, Justin couldn’t believe the company he was in, once he reached the altar he looked back at the dozens of rows of pews filled to the rafters , however it was the front row that caught his eye, from left to right he saw, Davos Seaworth President of the Westerosi Stannisist Party and Chairman of the Peoples’ National Council, Sister Agnes, formerly known as Melisandre and General Secretary of the Stannisist Party, Axell Florent, the People’s Commissar for the Westerosi Interior and the Queen’s uncle, Paul Malbranque, a foreign peasant from the other side of the Sunset sea who is now Peoples’ Commissar for foreign affairs, and finally Gendry Baratheon, the legitimised bastard nephew of the King who is now Peoples’ Commissar for Industrial production and armaments. These are the five most powerful people in the kingdom with the exception of the King himself.  
All of a sudden the bugles sound and the choir starts to sing the national anthem of the Seven Kingdoms, Justin just like everybody else knows the words off by heart.  
“United forever in Friendship and Labour,  
Our Mighty Seven Kingdoms will forever endure,  
The Great ideas of Stannis will live through the ages,  
The dream of his people their fortress secured,  
Long live our Stannisist motherland,  
Built by the peoples’ mighty hand,  
Long live our people united and free,  
Strong in our Friendship tried by fire,  
Long may our sacred Heart inspire,  
Shining in Glory for all men to see!”  
By the time Stannis reached the altar the choir had finished, Stannis nodded first to Justin and then to Pope Leo, something that took Justin by extreme surprise, nonetheless the Pope started the procession “Il nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti Amen” he then bellowed out “Grando Stannis omnes ante eum rex andals et rhoynar et first men, et protector est in Papatu, Salvatorem Westeros” Justin never learned to speak Latin, a tongue that seemed to come out of nowhere once the priests and the nuns started to show up, Justin could barely make out the rest of the mass, up until the Pope started talking to him in the common tongue, “Do you Justin of Flea Bottom accept the Holy Roman Catholic Church”, “I do” Justin replied, he asked the same question to the Godmother getting the same response. He then proceeded to lower the royal infant into the baptismal fountain. At the end of the ceremony a great cheer went around the basilica, Justin felt like a hero, even though he done nothing, King Stannis got up and made a speech “Comrades, brothers and sisters of Westeros, it’s been five years since our miraculous capture of Casterly Rock and the fall of Lannisport, these have been five glorious years of prosperity and peace across the Seven Kingdoms, however the Lannister pretenders are yet to surrender, Tommen the inbred bastard is still held up in Highgarden with his Tyrell lackeys, it’s the Westerosi Peoples’ intention that we have one strong unified nation however they continue to stand in the way of our dream, so with the power vested in me, I reject the latest terms of peace from the Lannister Armies and from tomorrow morning we will begin a renewed offensive in the Reach, Nostrum est furore!” The whole basilica got up and started applauding with fervour, Justin isn’t sure how long the crowd continued to clap for it was easily over ten minutes.  
As the sun started to set over flea bottom and the bells across the city continued to ring, Justin was joined by some of his old comrades from the 51st Crownlands Infantry, they all grew up together in flea bottom and they all served together in the Westerlands now they were back together having one last night of freedom before they march off to the Reach to finally end this brutal war that has lasted almost their entire lives. First of them was Denys a short but well-built man with thinning black hair at the age of just twenty and one, a lovely man who seemed like he wouldn’t hurt a soul however Justin seen him in the Westerlands, an absolute killing machine tearing through Lannisters like a hot pie, when he came home he found work with the city watch, his second friend Karyl has been Justin’s oldest friend growing up in the same orphanage, he’s the bastard son of a Dornish prostitute and you can tell by his features bronze skinned, dark haired, brown eyed and incredibly handsome, he’s much more reserved than Justin and Denys, in many ways he was the first of them to mature, seeing his older brother die in a fight in a tavern when he was still a child, once he was sent to the Westerlands he became cold merciless killer, the Party seen his talents and he has since done odd jobs for Party Headquarters in the Red Keep. The three lads have been thick as thieves since they were children and tonight they had one last opportunity to carouse and enjoy themselves, although you can never be certain with war most people in Stannisgrad where confident that Highgarden would fall before Christmas so the three lads where certain this wouldn’t be there last night in Flea bottom. As Denys was coming to the end of his battle of Arbor Red he asked “Do you think we’ll see the Arbor? It’s in the Reach innit.” With a look of drunken bewilderment Karyl bluntly replied “No you fool Stannis took the Arbour eight years ago we don’t need it”. The rest of night was a flurry of drunken stories about their youth and of their previous glorious campaign in the Westerlands. Justin went to bed that night almost feeling nervous and he didn’t know why, he was heading off with his friends again and the end of the war was in sight yet something did not feel right, he drank some more wine by himself and finally he dozed off.


	2. November XIX post conquestum CCCXIV

There was hardly any blood on Justin’s longsword by the time the Baratheon standard was raised above Highgarden, the assault just like the entire campaign was swift and effective, the combined Lannister-Tyrell armies seemed hungry and desperate just like their respective peasants, however the W.P.L.A high command seemed surprised at how quick the Reach fell.  
After the surrendering forces where rounded up Justin was posted to guard General Martyn Flowers as he oversaw the surrender negations. Martyn Flowers was a middle aged man with a stern demeanor and short cut brown hair slowly turning grey, he was a bastard from a minor house in the Reachman part of the Dornish Marches, he despised House Tyrell with every inch of his body, his father had died for Mace Tyrell during Robert’s rebellion, his two older brothers both died during the War of the Five Kings fighting for Kings Joffrey and Tommen respectively, left with control of his family’s castle during the aforementioned war was when Martyn decided to rebel against Highgarden, he rejected the Tyrell call for more men and grain during the harsh winter of 300 A.C he sided with Stannis Baratheon and never looked back, although the common folk say he is neither a devout Catholic or party loyalist he has still risen to become a general in the W.P.L.A, now he is getting justice, he is one of the most powerful men in Westeros and the Tyrells will become nothing under the meritocratic justice of Stannis’ new order.  
Justin noticed how his general was pacing with eager anticipation around the throne room of Highgarden, the entire Lannister Royal family as well as the Tyrells where expected to be in custody in any moment King Tommen and Lord Willas Tyrell where to be brought before General Martyn, then the moment came, the giant oak doors opened and Justin saw the two guards drag a crippled man through who could only be Lord Willas, “Where’s the pretender” General Martyn angrily bellowed, “There’s no sign of him, the Queen, the Queen mother or any other member of the royal family Comrade General” replied one of the guards, General Martyn fiercely grabbed the crippled lord and shouted into his face “Where are they?”, Lord Willas could only muster a few words “they’re…on…..ship……Volantis.” The General procced to snap his neck, just like that three hundred years of Tyrell rule in the Reach was done. The General calmly said then “Comrades dispose of him, after that you’re dismissed the war is over” , “Yes Ser, Comrade General” Justin and his comrades replied.  
**  
The following morning Justin woke up feeling the pains of a heavy night of drinking with his comrades of the 51ST Crownlands infantry, however not even his hangover could stop his excitement, he was going to be home for Christmas, as we walked around the camp he noticed all the happy faces even Karyl was smirking, they where all going home, he even hugged their commander Commissar Mowbray, although with the exception of High Command, the W.P.L.A had abolished a ranked system of command, however still took orders from Commissars who took orders in turn from High Command and the party , Commissars had basically replaced the officers of old, Justin’s Commissar was a man named Mowbray a small pathetic looking man from the Claw region of the Crownlands, none of Justin’s comrades respected his authority, however since Tommen’s armies put up little resistance in this campaign this hasn’t been a real problem, “What are you going to do when you get home Comrade Commissar?” Justin asked, “That’s classified information the party wishes me not to disclose comrade”, Mowbray replied his mood once again reverted to it’s miserable form, suddenly a messenger from high command showed up and called Mowbray to speak to him, Justin looked from a distance at their conversation, he noticed how Mowbray’s face turned into a pale pallor when they were done, this wasn’t good. Mowbray walked back to the Camp at a slow pace not making eye contact with anyone when he finally made it back everybody gathered around him with a nervous fear of the news he was about to share, “Comrades………The North has been invaded……Deepwood Moat has fallen to the…..Lannisters.” “Well surely Comrade General Snow can deal with that there’s thousands of our men in the north I here” Denys replied “No comrade…we’ve been given a task…we march for Moat Caitlin on the morrow.”


End file.
